Bloomington panel delays vote on I-69 section

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - A southern Indiana panel has delayed until March a vote on whether to add a hotly debated section of the Interstate 69 extension into its transportation plan.

The Herald-Times reports (http://bit.ly/wbdWb1 ) that the topic was on the agenda for Friday's meeting of the policy committee of the Bloomington-Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization, but the panel voted to delay consideration to allow more time to discuss the issue with state and federal highway officials.

Last May, the panel approved a revised local transportation plan that omitted the section, citing concerns about how it will be funded, its environmental impact and the location of interchanges.

If the panel doesn't add the 1.75-mile Monroe County section to the plan, state officials say it could endanger federal money for Bloomington road projects.